Textile decatising apparatus

ABSTRACT

TEXTILE DECASTING APPARATUS COMPRISING THREE PERFORATED CYLINDERS ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN SUPPORTING DISCS. THE CYLINDERS ARE SYMMETRICALLY ARRANGED AROUND THE AXIS OF THE DISCS WHICH ARE ROTABLE TO LOCATE EACH CYLINDER SEQUENTIALLY AT FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD PROCESS STATIONS. AT THE FIRST STATION, THE CYLINDER IS WOUND WITH MATERIAL TO BE DECATISED, AT THE SECOND STATION, THE MATERIAL WOUND ON THE CYLINDER IS DECASTISED BY STEAM PASSED THROUGH THE CYLINDER, AND AT THE THIRD STATION THE DECATISED MATERIAL IS UNWOUND FROM THE CYLINDER.

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TEXTILE DECATISING APPARATUS Nov. 16, 1971 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 7. 1970 INVENTOR D11-rmx Rmbu. %4 TTORNEYS NOV. 16, 1971 D, R|EDEL TEXTILE DECATI S ING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May '1, 1970 INVENTOR bling Raam.

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Filed May 7, 1970 INVENTOR BY @f2/f 7?/44 United States Patent O 3,620,051 TEXTILE DECATISING APPARATUS Dieter Riedel, Minden, Westphalia, Germany, assignor to Drabert Sohne, Minden, Westphalia, Germany Filed May 7, 1970, Ser. No. 35,336 Claims priority, application Germany, Nov. 10, 1969, P 19 56 399.6 Int. Cl. D06c 1/00 Int. Cl. 68-8 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Tertile decatising apparatus comprising three perforated cylinders rotatably mounted in supporting discs. The cylinders are symmetrically arranged around the axis of the discs which are rotatable to locate each cylinder sequentially at first, second and third process stations. At the first station, the cylinder is wound with material to be decatised, at the second station, the material wound on the cylinder is decatised by steam passed through the cylinder, and at the third station the decatised material is unwound from the cylinder.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the invention The present invention relates to textile decatising apparatus.

(2) Description of the prior art In decatising apparatus proposed hitherto, the material to be treated is wound onto a perforated cylinder, together with a stretched runner of molleton or satin, the completed roll then being steamed for a given length of time.

The steam is then extracted from the roll, and the material is subsequently cooled to fix the decatising effect.

Since production as a whole is at a standstill during the decatising treatment, and since the winding and unwinding of the material and the simultaneous rolling and -unrolling of the runner take place on one and the same machine, considerable idle periods are introduced into the process andthe output is correspondingly low.

The object of the invention is to at least partially eliminate the idle periods inherent in the apparatus described above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention there is provided textile decatising apparatus comprising support means mounted for rotation about an axis, at least three hollow, perforated decatising cylinders mounted for rotation in said support means and symmetrically arranged around said axis, means defining first, second and third process stations arranged symmetrically around said axis, said support means being movable to locate each said cylinder sequentially at said first, second and third process stations, said first process station including drive means selectively engageable with a said cylinder located at said first process station to rotate said cylinder in a sense to wind thereon material to be decatised, said second process station including steam supply means, and means selectively placing said steam supply means in communication with a said cylinder located at said second process station, and said third process station including drive means selectively engageable with a said cylinder located at said third process station to rotate said cylinder in a sense to unwind material wound thereon.

I3,620,051 Patented Nov. 16, 1971 "ice BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:

FIG. l is a schematic vertical cross-section of one form ot` decatising apparatus in accordance with the invention;

iFIG. 2 is a section taken on line II-II in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section online III-III in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic vertical section of a modified form of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE IPREF'ERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in the drawings, the apparatus comprises three perforated hollow decatising cylinders 1, 2 and 3 mounted for rotation about their respective longitudinal axes in supporting discs 4, 5. The cylinders 1, 2 and 3 are shown in the drawings as being located at first, second and third process stations respectively. The discs 4, 5 are mounted co-axially on a hollow stationary shaft 6 and the decatising cylinders 1 to 3 are arranged symmetrically around the axis of the shaft 6. The shaft 6 is mounted in frame members 7 and 8, and discs 4, 5 can be rotated around the shaft 6 by electro-mechanical or electrohydraulic means 9.

The cylinder 1 when occupying the position shown in FIG. l is rotated about its axis by a driven member 10 which in the embodiment illustrated, comprises a gear- Wheel in mesh with a driving pinion (not shown). Drive is transmitted to the cylinder 1 from the driven member 10 through cone clutches 11/1a and 12/1b which can be selectively engaged and disengaged by means operated,

for example, by fluid under pressure when the clutches 11/1a and 12/1b are engaged, the driving torque is transmitted to the decatising cylinder 1, causing it to rotate.

The frame members 7 and 8 carry two steam ducts 13 and 14, which can be connected to and disconnected from the decatising cylinder 2 when occupying the position shown in FIG. 1. This non-permanent connection is effected by means of cone clutches 15/2a and 16/2b. One half 15 of the clutch 15/2a is a leakproof sliding fit in the steam duct 13, whereas one half 16 of the clutch 16/2b` forms with the duct 14 a single unit, mounted in the frame member 7 with freedom to slide axially. The two clutch halves 15 and 16 can be moved axially relative to the cylinders by means controlled by fluid under pressure.

Connected to the clutch half 15 is a driven member 17, which, in the embodiment shown, is a gear wheel in mesh with a driving pinion (not shown), and drive is transmitted to the cylinder 2 when two clutches 15/2a and 16/2b are engaged.

Steam is fed into the ducts 13, 14 through pipe connections 18 and 19 respectively, and a pipe 20, for the discharge of condensate, is in communication with the duct 13.

During the decatising process, as shown in FIG. 2; the decatising cylinder 2 is rotated by the member 17. In FIG. 3 two extraction ducts 21 and 22 are mounted in the frame members 7, 8 and can be selectively connected to the decatising cylinder 3 when occupying the position shown in FIG. l. Extraction through the ducts 21 and 22 can be effected by means of an extractor fan, for example. A non-permanent connection between the ducts 21 and 22, and the cylinder 3 is effected by means of cone clutches 23/3a and 24/ 3b, the havles 23 and 24 of the clutches 23/ 3a and 24/3b forming a sliding fit in the ducts 21 and 22 respectively.

The clutch halves 23 and 24 can be moved by means controlled by fluid under pressure.

A driven member 25, in the form of a gear wheel in mesh with a driving pinion (not shown) is attached to the clutch half 23, as shown in FIG. 3 and acts to rotate the cylinder 3 when the respective clutches 23/3a and 24/3/1 are engaged.

Regulation of a runner 26 of, for example molleton or satin, is provided between the members and 25. As shown in FIG. 1 guide rollers 27, for the runner 26 are rotatably mounted in the discs 4, 5 between the decatising cylinders.

The shaft 6 contains a slot 6a, extending longitudinally between the discs 4 and 5, and from which air is discharged at a given velocity.

Stationary blower nozzles 28, are also provided, which discharge compressed air on to the cylinder 2.

A stationary hood 29, is provided above the decatising cylinder 2 for extracting steam.

The apparatus illustrated in FIG. 4 is similar to the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. l to 3 but has a modified layout.

The apparatus operates as follows:

Let it be assumed, first, that the three decatising cylinders 1 to 3 are occupying the positions shown in FIG. 1. In these positions, the decatising cylinder 2 is supporting a roll of material which is being decatised, the cylinder 1 is being wound with material 32 to be decatised together with the runner 26, and decatised material is being unwound from the cylinder 3 and is discharged onto a conveyor belt 30 for conveyance to a piling mechanism comprising a concertina-piling roller 31. Before it is deposited, the material undergoes cooling, in order to produce cold shock and shrinkage. As the runner 26 is unwound from the cylinder 3 it is wound onto the decatising cylinder 1 together with the material to be decatised.

The completion of the decatising process of the material wound on the cylinder 2 coincides with completion of the winding of the material to be decatised onto cylinder 1 and the unwinding of the material, previously decatised, from the cylinder 3.

The clutches 11/1a and 12/1b, 15/2a and 16/2b, and 23/3a and 24/3b, are disengaged, and the two supporting discs 4 and 5 are then rotated through 120 in a clockwise sense (as viewed in FIG. l), so that the decatising cylinder 2 now occupies the previous position of the cylinder 3, the cylinder 1 occupies the former positon of the cylinder 2 and the cylinder 3 occupies the former position of the cylinder 1. The material on the cylinder 2 is unwound therefrom, and material to be decatised is wound onto the cylinder 3.

The sequence of operations is then repeated as appror priate.

The apparatus described herein is advantageous in that the decatising cylinder due to undergo steaming need not be removed from the apparatus and that the winding and unwinding of the material onto the other decatising cylinders can proceed independently of the decatising process.

What is claimed is:

1. Textile decatising apparatus comprising:

support means mounted for rotation about an axis,

at least three hollow, perforated decatising cylinders mounted for rotation in said support means and symmetrically arranged around said axis,

means defining first, second and third process stations arranged symmetrically around said axis, said support means being movable to locate each said cylinder sequentially at said first, second and third process stations, said first process station including drive means selectively engageable with a said cylinder 5 located at said first process station to rotate said cylinder in a sense to wind thereon material to be decatised, said second process station including steam supply means, and

means selectively placing said steam supply means in 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said second process station further includes:

drive means selectively engageable with a said cylinder located at said second process station to rotate said second cylinder, and wherein said third process station further includes, an extraction duct, and

means for selectively placing said extraction duct in communication with a said cylinder located at said third process station.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising: a hollow shaft, said shaft extending along said axis and said support means being mounted for rotation about said shaft, said shaft having a longitudinally extending slot through which air is directed onto a said cylinder at said second process station.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said second process station further includes:

at said second process station, and

hood means withdrawing steam from the said cylinder located at said second process station.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said third process station further includes:

conveying means for discharging material unwound from a said cylinder located at said third process station.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising: first conical coupling means operatively connected to each said cylinder, and wherein each said drive means includes second conical coupling means, said second conical coupling means being selectively movable into engagement with said first conical coupling means of a said cylinder located at the respective process station.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,184,026 5/1916 Rothschild 68-8 1,954,496 4/1934 Shields 68-8 X 3,206,777 9/1965 Shibata 68-8 X 3,521,378 7/l970 Fleissner 34-115 FREDERICK L. MATTESON, JR., Primary Examiner T. W. STREULE, JR., Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 34-115 nozzle means blowing air onto a said cylinder located 

